Panel: Rethinking Public Sector through Blockchain

Governments' and other public sector entities core function is to act on behalf of society to create the laws and rules that must be followed, and to ensure that they are being followed. It is foundat …

Governments' and other public sector entities core function is to act on behalf of society to create the laws and rules that must be followed, and to ensure that they are being followed. It is foundationally necessary for governments to have access to accurate, relevant, and complete information in order to fulfill these responsibilities, which is why governments possess legal, regulatory, and judicial mechanisms to compel the truth from all societal participants.This authority uniquely positions governments' as validators of truth and custodians of trusted information. Emerging technologies continually provide new capabilities that enable creativity and the rethinking of existing processes, interactions, and models. While all emerging technologies will play a role in the public sector, blockchain will certainly be among the most consequential, because of its specific role as a facilitator, validator, and custodian of trusted information.This technology promises to enable governments' and other public sector entities to interact with societal participants within a larger ecosystem, or fabric, which will break down traditional public-private silos and provide completely new approaches toward governance.The key components of this ecosystem are a) identity (real world items of value (assets) that can be represented digitally), b) interactions (traceability of transactions), c) regulatory compliance (the embedded laws, rules, and contracts that should be followed), and d) governance (the creation, maintenance, and operation of the ecosystem).